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Originally Posted by masraum
I think those stages apply to pretty much any job that deals with providing a product or service to the general public. People suck, and there's no better way to learn that than to try to help them or sell them something that they want or need.
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For sure. Think of construction contracting, especially the residential remodeling sector.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LWJ
Fred,
I heard this advice from someone who is much more successful than I. And I have not been able to make it work for my business. Perhaps you can.
Become a niche provider. Do one very narrow-focused thing. Do it better than others. Charge a premium for it.
If Porsche work is your thing and your geography supports this, do it. Screw the subarus.
Or perhaps you have a concierge focus. Meaning, you pick up and deliver vehicles. You keep them running. You charge a flat fee monthly. Their car breaks? You have a back up. All at one cost.
There are other iterations that can work. Don't be like me. Be smart. Don't work so hard.
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There is s lot of wisdom to this. Specialize. My dad sounded me on that and he was never anywhere near being a contractor. He was in the advertising business. (He was the model for Don Draper in Mad Men whether the writers knew it or not.) He knew you couldn't be spread all over the board pretty much in any business.
His advantage was he got a close look at scores of businesses when working as the agency for their advertising. He had to know the inner workings to build a successful campaign.
A lot of shops around here do specialize by brand or country of origin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arizona_928
I've talked to guys that owned resturants... Once you build up the clientele it's very hard to close and reopen successfully. These guys are in the food truck/catering business now. Work when they want to, or obtain the contracts.
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And there is a lot of wisdom in this as well. Kinda hard to switch horses in the middle of a stream. Better to close up, paint the place a new color and hang a new sign indicating the new 'specialty'. Invest in some specialty equipment and advertise that you have such and such and that you're the closest and best choice for miles around.
Don't even wear the same work uniform. Reinvent. Find the niche or problem that needs to be solved and be the best.
AFA Porsches are concerned, it seems that most Porsche specific shops are just that. And I think Porsche owners are reluctant to drop their car off at a shop that does any Euro car brand or a shop that also does domestic DD's.
That's just not a good image.